Oman to shift weekend to Friday start

MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Oman will switch to a Friday-Saturday weekend to align its banking and business days with most other nations in the region.

Currently, Oman and neighboring Saudi Arabia follow a Thursday-Friday weekend. But other countries in the Gulf start their two-day weekends on Friday, the Muslim day of prayer.

The decree by Oman’s ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, also ordered private companies to give their employees the same number of religious holidays as civil servants in an effort to make non-state jobs more attractive.